What is it, how does it affect the business, and how product and engineering can work together to handle it? — What is technical debt? A search of the current literature reveals many definitions of “technical debt.” Here are a few examples: Technical debt is a concept in programming that reflects the extra development work that arises when code that is easy to implement in the short run is used instead of applying the best…

1) Ease of integration in the target business, 2) vendor lock-ins, and 3) inflexibility caused by technical debt. — When I look back on all the applications and systems I worked on in my career, I’d say that 90% of all long-term problems are due to these three reasons: Ease of integration in the target business: The overall price of a product for a customer is much more than…

These differences start with how you make money on projects vs. products. — Several times during my career, I joined teams who wanted to transition “from projects to products.” The ride was never smooth, whether in a big company or a small and agile team. Projects (Services) A project is a singular effort made to achieve a predefined result. For example, building a bridge. Or…

How to build trusting work relationships and culture. — My work has always taken me to international environments. I once joined a company with employees of 66 different nationalities, and I’ve been in a few good spots throughout my career to observe how trust evolves (and dies) in various places. This article is an attempt to describe trust in…

Three pillars of scalable teamwork. — The purpose of this article is to describe the impacts ownership, autonomy, and responsibility have on us and the work we do. This breakdown is for managers, individual contributors, and anyone else working in IT. These topics are universal within our industry. Ideas on how to improve these three aspects…

“Ask For Comments” type of documents (similar to RFC) — This article is about a method for teams to communicate and align with complex technical topics. It helps with collecting input, defining solutions, and setting expectations. …

It’s not always easy to discover and assemble all the pieces. — The purpose of this article is to shed some light on what is needed for software development teams to perform in the long run. There are many pieces of that puzzle that, if not addressed well, could limit the potential and output of a team. Puzzle pieces of the teamwork Every development team can make…

Navigating rough seas. — This article is about how trends affect technology vision, why change is important, and the role of pragmatism („business awareness”) in the success of a technical vision. Definitions Technology vision is a direction and a long-term plan on how technology will 1) support the company strategy and 2) influence the business…

Insight, chaos, and self-control — We sometimes associate the word “innovation” with popular breakthrough things that “change the world.” But this is not about sensational inventions. Innovation in this article means finding new and better ways to achieve something relevant in your context. (Note: Innovation is not the same as problem-solving because even the best…